Legacies

Leaving a legacy to a community that you love or a cause in which you believe is one of the most generous and effective ways of giving. Not only do you have the satisfaction of knowing that your money will be spent to benefit others but you can also rest assured that Essex Community Foundation will administer your legacy with diligence and care.

We offer a simple way for you to bequest money to the local community.

In general, local charities tend to be smaller and younger than national ones. You may have doubts as to whether they will be in existence in future years when your legacy takes effect. Although this is a perfectly reasonable concern, it does mean that local charities receive fewer legacies than large national charities. ECF offers a way of ensuring your legacy goes to the community or cause you nominate and avoids problems should a charity not be in existence at the time your will takes effect.

Our commitment to building a permanent, substantial and multi-purpose endowment for the local community means that the Foundation will certainly be around to receive your legacy, and will continue to fulfil your charitable wishes in perpetuity.

Essex Community Foundation welcomes legacies of all kinds, including:

Pecuniary – a specified sum of money

Specific – a specified item, such as shares or property

Residuary – all or part of the Estate after any pecuniary legacies have been paid

Reversionary – the residue of the Estate after the death of a surviving spouse

As with lifetime gifts, you may simply name Essex Community Foundation as the beneficiary and the gift will be incorporated into our Acorn Fund which supports social and community activities and projects through the county.

Alternatively your bequest could create a Named Fund, which will have specific charitable objectives requested by you. ECF can work with your relatives and/or professional adviser to ensure that your wishes and interests are met. It should be noted that ECF's own Memorandum and Articles of Association allows for grants to be awarded outside of Essex at the request of a donor. As well as local charities, the donor may therefore name international and national charities to benefit from their bequest.

Legacy gifts are exempt from inheritance tax and could reduce the total amount of tax paid on your estate.

ECF is happy to discuss the proposed terms of a legacy, or to meet with you and/or your client, if that would be helpful. Please call Steven Mackenzie on 01245 355947.